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26 September 2016

This majestic raptor was spotted by the during the Annual Bird Marathon held at Kaiga this January. Himalayan Vulture (Juvenile) is one of the two largest Old World vultures and true raptors. For the first time Himalayan Griffon Vulture was spotted in this region. Later, in February 2016, it was in news that this raptor was found in Goa by one of the birders. Today I found these images on my archive which is worth sharing!

P.S: All are unprocessed Image is copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.

19 January 2016

Image of the White-bellied Sea-Eagle which was spotted by almost every team.

This image was photographed by Prashant Bhandare near the Kadra Dam.

P.S: Image is copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.

Early in the morning, before the sunrise, while I entered
the lawns near the Nisarga Guest House at Kaiga, there were hundreds of birders
assembled at their respective transects with their group members. All were wide
awake, exited for the Kaiga Bird Marathon. I joined my group, Group A - the
transect which was within the Kaiga forest. And yes, I’m one of the privileged
birder who was lucky to be in this transect for no one is allowed inside this
forest otherwise including the site co-coordinators who were visiting this
forest for the first time.

At 5:30, they had a flag off session and few words of
encouragement and each group left the lawn area to board the bus. There were
four teams in my bus, where everyone were dropped in their respective transect
areas and we were headed towards the Kaiga site area. It was a beautiful route,
peaceful and serene. I so envy the people having the chance to live in such a
beautiful place.

My team:

I was in the 1st transect which is Group A who
were all lucky visitors to Kaiga region. Other teams have visited the nearby villages
like Hattuga, Virje, Halga-Ulga, and so on. Our team was also lucky because we
had Dr. Raju Kasambe from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) who heads
the Important Bird Areas (IBA) Programme and Indian Bird Conservation Network
(IBCN) along with the coordinators who worked at NPCIL. We were 12 in our team,
of which only 4 were visitors and others were working in NPCIL. Dr. Raju
Kasambe has every minute detail about the birds and we had Harish Kulur a
birder who works at NPCIL who could identify each and every bird. We had a
great team and with our team effort we could identify 76 species with the Kaiga
forest area.

We were allowed inside the Kaiga area after verifying our
identify details. Yes, we had given prior permission to enter the Kaiga forest,
our Photo ID and electronic equipment details were provided earlier to the
management. An escort from the NPCIL team who knew the forest area was with us.
Only our team coordinator and the escort had the phones with them, we were
enjoying our time without mobile phones. We were dropped at the NPCIL site gate
and we were not allowed to use our cameras until we entered the forest area.

As we entered, we could hear a danger call from the Monkey.
Our guide alerted us there should be a leopard and that’s the reason the Monkey
is afraid. We were all looking the other side of the fence while my team
members witnessed leopard running in front of us. I missed that sight. As we
moved around, we had birders who were able to identify the bird species with
their calls and some birds we could spot. The sun was out by then and birds had
started their daily routes.

The birds which we spotted initially were among Barbets,
Bulbul, Swifts and Swallow species. To make our day even brighter, the Great Hornbill
flew over our head. All were so excited to see this bird and I was very much
excited as I was seeing this great bird for the first time. Later as we moved
further, we spotted couple of Great Hornbill sitting on a tree and few Malabar Pied
Hornbills flying at the height. I was also blessed to find the Stork-billed
Kingfisher, such a beauty. God has created variety with the colors, marvelous creations.

Bonus to the trek was the pug marks which we found on our trek
route. The pug marks indicated that must have walked against our direction
after the night patrolling.

All in all it was a great day with well organized birding
event. The organizers at NPCIL have taken care of each and every minute
requirement and we did not find any difficulty or issues in this event. We were
very glad to be part of the annual Kaiga Bird Marathon and hoping to be there
for the next bird marathon. Special mention to the NPCIL team who were with us
during these two days, they were all down to earth, loving people. We must
appreciate them for the knowledge they have in birds, everyone has utilized the
opportunity of being within the nature. I was really surprised for everyone had
great knowledge of birds and that’s the reason bird marathon gets great
response with every passing year.

List of birds from our transect – Transect A – Kaiga (List taken
from eBird posted by Dr. Raju Kasambe)

6

Indian
Peafowl

2

Grey
Junglefowl

3

Woolly-necked
Stork

1

Indian
Cormorant

1

Gray
Heron

19

Cattle
Egret

1

Indian
Pond-Heron

1

Black-shouldered
Kite

2

Oriental
Honey-buzzard

2

Crested
Serpent-Eagle

1

Legge's
Hawk-Eagle

1

Rufous-bellied
Eagle

1

Black
Eagle

1

Shikra

1

Black
Kite

1

Brahminy
Kite

1

White-bellied
Sea-Eagle

3

Spotted
Dove

2

Emerald
Dove

2

Gray-fronted
Green-Pigeon

2

Asian
Koel

1

Brown-backed
Needletail

8

Crested
Treeswift

1

Eurasian
Hoopoe

3

Great
Hornbill

4

Malabar
Pied-Hornbill

1

Stork-billed
Kingfisher

2

White-throated
Kingfisher

4

Green
Bee-eater

1

Malabar
Barbet

2

Coppersmith
Barbet

1

Brown-headed
Barbet

1

White-cheeked
Barbet

1

Brown-capped
Woodpecker

1

Black-rumped
Flameback

5

Plum-headed
Parakeet

2

Malabar
Parakeet

4

Vernal
Hanging-Parrot

1

Common
Iora

3

Orange
Minivet

1

Brown
Shrike

6

Indian
Golden Oriole

2

Black-hooded
Oriole

3

Ashy
Drongo

1

Bronzed
Drongo

2

Greater
Racket-tailed Drongo

2

Black-naped
Monarch

1

Rufous
Treepie

5

House
Crow

7

Large-billed
Crow

60

Red-rumped
Swallow

4

Gray-headed
Bulbul

2

Flame-throated
Bulbul

2

Red-vented
Bulbul

4

Red-whiskered
Bulbul

7

Yellow-browed
Bulbul

20

Square-tailed
Bulbul

1

Greenish
Warbler

1

Blyth's
Reed-Warbler

1

Zitting
Cisticola (Zitting)

1

Common
Tailorbird

3

Plain
Prinia

10

Jungle
Babbler

50

Asian
Fairy-bluebird

1

Asian
Brown Flycatcher

1

Oriental
Magpie-Robin

2

Verditer
Flycatcher

40

Southern
Hill Myna

16

Malabar
Starling

3

Jungle
Myna

3

Golden-fronted
Leafbird

4

Thick-billed
Flowerpecker

5

Nilgiri
Flowerpecker

1

Purple-rumped
Sunbird

2

Crimson-backed
Sunbird

12

Purple
Sunbird

20

White-rumped
Munia

About Kaiga Bird Marathon:

Every year the Kaiga Bird Marathon is organized and enthusiastic
bird watchers come in huge numbers and participate in counting the bird species
of the surrounding areas. There are 8 transects and each transect is allocated
to a nearby village around Kaiga Generating Station.

Towards the end of November, I found an Invite regarding the
Kaiga Bird Marathon in the Yahoo Bangalore Birders group. Without any second
thoughts I had registered for the event for me and Prashant. Later on due to
wedding preparations I had totally forgotten to check about my registration
status. End of December I received a message from ESP team at Kaiga regarding
my confirmation as they were having many participants on waitlist. Me and
Prashant confirmed our participation on 10th Jan and were excited
that we were selected for the Bird Marathon.

The organizing team had made all the necessary arrangements
for all the birders including accommodation, food, and transportation for the
marathon. This event was very well organized and I was amazed with the
coordination among the organizing team. We were also given the participation
certificate and memento. I am eagerly awaiting my next participation at the
Kaiga Bird Marathon.

The most discussed bird at the Kaiga Bird Marathon Himalayan Griffon - Juvenile which was earlier confused as Indian Vulture. Thanks to Ramit Singhal for the right identification.

P.S: Image is copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.